Tech Update: Trishula’s Triumph!

May 22nd, 2011

The recent release of Hidden Arsenal 4: Trishula’s Triumph has lots of Duelists adjusting their Decks to take advantage of some of the new cards that are available. Take a look at 4 of the most popular cards from Hidden Arsenal 4 that you can use in almost any Deck!

Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier is the king of Hidden Arsenal 4: Trishula’s Triumph. Its ability to remove a card from an opponent’s hand, field, and Graveyard can cripple any Deck, and the fact that it can be Summoned by using anyTuner and any 2 or more non-Tuners means that it works in just about every Deck.

Plant Synchro Decks can Synchro Summon Trishula even more easily than most others, since they’re constantly swarming the field with monsters to perform Synchro Summons at a wide range of Levels. Since Trishula is a Dragon, Debris Dragon can even be used in a Synchro Summon that’s aiming to bring it out. Dandylion, Spore, Glow-Up Bulb, and other monsters that can be called to the field at will make the Summon of Trishula a breeze in Plant Decks. The success of so many Synchro-heavy Plant Decks this weekend, especially those taking advantage of Reborn Tengu, is heavily attributed to the ease with which Trishula can be Synchro Summoned.

2. Genex Ally Birdman

Genex Ally Birdman is another popular card that’s being used this weekend. Juan Morales, who ended the Swiss rounds of Day 1 in first place with a perfect 8-0 record, packed 3 copies of Birdman in his Deck, to combo it with Reborn Tengu. By returning Reborn Tengu to his hand, Morales was able to Special Summon Birdman with 1900 ATK, and use the effect of his Tengu to Special Summon another Tengu from his Deck. Since Birdman is a Level 3 Tuner, this also opened up the possibility for a Level 7 Synchro Summon.

Combining Genex Ally Birdman with Reborn Tengu makes for a powerful combo, but that’s not the only strong play in which Birdman can be used. Birdman can be used in Monarch Decks to return a Monarch to a Duelist’s hand so that it can be reused, and can be played in Samurais, where it’s able to bounce Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan or Grandmaster of the Six Samurai. Returning Kizan and Grandmaster to your hand enables you to instantly Special Summon them back to the field and add Bushido Counters to Continuous Spell Cards like Gateway of the Six and Shien’s Dojo. The power for these Decks to Summon a Level 3 Tuner Monster like Birdman is especially valuable, since it gives them access to Synchro Monsters that would otherwise be difficult to Summon.

The most popular combo involving Birdman this weekend is definitely its use with Reborn Tengu, but that doesn’t mean you won’t see Birdman in other Decks too.

3. Naturia Landoise

Naturia Landoise is the Level 7 Synchro Monster of the Naturia Synchro family, and it can only be Summoned by Tuning an EARTH Tuner with 1 or more EARTH non-Tuners. That makes it a fitting card for Six Samurai Decks, which can Tune Kagemusha of the Six Samurai with Grandmaster of the Six Samurai to Synchro Summon it. Once you have Landoise on your field, you can negate your opponent’s monster effects by sending a Spell Card from your hand to your Graveyard. This is a powerful effect to use against just about any Deck, since all of the most popular Decks rely on monster effects to gain the upper hand in a Duel.

Landoise is mostly being used in Samurai Decks this weekend, but it can sometimes be Summoned in various builds of other Decks that rely on EARTH monsters too, including new Psychic Decks, Scraps, X-Sabers, and dedicated Naturia Decks.

4. The Fabled Cerburrel

Although it’s not being used too much this weekend, The Fabled Cerburrel is a powerful card that can be fit into just about any Deck using cards that force you to discard from your hand. Whenever The Fabled Cerburrel is discarded to the Graveyard, you Special Summon it to the field, where it awaits to serve as the Level 2 Tuner in a Synchro Summon. Decks using Phoenix Wing Wind Blast and Snipe Hunter can take advantage of Cerburrel’s effect to gain a free monster out of the discard cost and set up a big Synchro Summon. If Duelists using Cerburrel get lucky, they may also be able to Special Summon Cerburrel when an opponent discards it from their hand with the effect of a monster like Spirit Reaper or X-Saber Airbellum.

These are just a few of the new cards from Hidden Arsenal 4: Trishula’s Triumph that can be fit into a bunch of different Decks. Other powerful cards in the set have their own niche Decks that they’re primarily used in. Stay with the coverage to see which over Hidden Arsenal 4 cards make it to the top!